James Nachtwey: Five Questions
James Nachtwey’s book of photographs “Inferno” — his record of the terrible costs of 20th century conflict and disaster — opens with a quote from the famous poem by Dante from which it takes its title: “There sighs, lamentations and loud wailings resounded through the starless air, so that from the beginning it made me weep.”
That the quote could be appended to all or parts of almost any Nachtwey book or photo essay, testifies both to his determined witness of the human condition in its direst circumstances and to his clean address of the horror he finds, pulling our eyes with commanding technique. His work, which appears frequently in Time and The New York Times magazine, is frequently compared to that of legendary war photographer Robert Capa, and he has won the Overseas Press Club’s Robert Capa Gold Medal an unprecedented five times.
After graduating with degrees in Art History and Political Science from Dartmouth College, Nachtwey was inspired by images from the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement to teach himself photography while working various jobs as Merchant Marine, assistant news editor and truck driver.
In 1976 he became a news photographer in New Mexico, and in 1980 he moved to New York as a freelance magazine photographer. Since then, Nachtwey has built an award-winning body of work covering wars, conflict and social unrest all over the world, including Belfast, Africa, Central America, the Middle East, Asia and the Baltics.
Although Nachtwey’s work documenting AIDS in Africa served as an inspiration for the “A Day in the Life of Africa” project, Nachtwey was unable to attend the shoot. He was able to answer several questions about his recent work and his explorations in digital imaging, as part of Apple’s series about the project.
“Afghanistan was my first large-scale digital story. It was an odd combination of medieval living conditions and cutting-edge technology. I learned on the job, sink or swim.”
Describe your photographic history with Africa.
Looking back, it seems as if I’ve spent half my career in Africa. The largest, single body of work I’ve ever produced was in South Africa. It became a second home to me. Some of the worst tragedies of contemporary history have occurred there, from the genocide in Rwanda to famines in Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia. The story in South Africa in the 90s contained a great deal of tragedy and injustice, but the eventual outcome of the struggle against apartheid was the election of Nelson Mandela. It was the most uplifting story of my career.
